NBN Construction to commence in Alice Springs

Alice Springs will soon be equipped with fibre optic cables that will deliver fast broadband to all its residents.

An estimated 9,000 homes and businesses in Alice Springs will begin to get connected to the network, most of which will be via fixed line connections, as construction to lay cables progresses from now until June 2016.

The multi-technology mix approach, however, means that some areas will be using different technologies which could be the NBN fixed wireless broadband, or satellite. It remains unclear as to what the south of The Gap will get.

Justin Jarvis, NBN Co spokesman, said 25 Mbps will be the base speed for downloads, which is still faster than the top ADSL2 speed of 20Mbps.

In Alice Springs, the fibre optic cables that are currently being installed will deliver up to 100Mbps speeds.

The announcement was welcomed by Chief Minister Adam Giles, but he did express some concern over the MTM approach.

He said that the NT government remains to be skeptical of the NBN technology solution and that despite unrelenting lobbying, only NBN Co’s satellite service will be available in Kilgariff.

But according to Mr. Jarvis of NBN Co, they have yet to determine the delivery methods to be implemented in Alice Springs. He said that the top priority right now is to get the NBN out to people as fast as possible, and that they are already using a variety of ways to make that happen.

He announced that next year, NBN Co is set to launch satellites capable of delivering unprecedented high-speed communications to isolated areas.

He also stressed that the fixed line services, which will be made available in the majority of Alice Springs, requires visible earthworks and construction activity.

NBN Co, based on Mr. Jarvis’ statement, strives to use local contractors whenever possible, and that the involvement of local businesses in the project is inevitable.

It is NBN Co’s goal to connect all Australians to the network by 2020.